Blue Knights return in steel chariots

By THOMAS BRENNAN Daily News Staff

Published: Friday, August 30, 2013 at 09:15 AM.

Smith’s mother, sister and aunt came to support the couple.

“The family was there with the two of them through this deployment and we know how important it is to have people waiting on you when you come home,” said Smith’s mother, Amy Smith. “Everybody needs a crowd cheering them on when they come home.”

Seeing Shelby and her boyfriend adjust to life before and during deployment allowed her to share her experiences, which she hoped helped them get through the deployment a little bit easier.

“Being in a relationship with someone in the military wasn’t something she understood before this,” she said. “It took her five difficult months, but she finally got to see a mom’s side of things.”

For Smith’s boyfriend, Nathan Donahue, it felt like he just left yesterday, he said.

“Just knowing that you have people waiting for you back home — especially your beautiful girlfriend — is awesome,” said Donahue, 22, of Hornell, N.Y. “I thought (the deployment) would feel longer and go by slower than it did, but I’m glad it didn’t.”

Leaving is stressful because you don’t know when or if you’re coming home, but coming home is exciting, Donahue said.

While this deployment may have kept Shelby Smith separated from her boyfriend, it brought Smith and her mother even closer.

“I never realized how much my mom went through when my dad deployed all those times,” said Smith, 19, of Jacksonville. “You have that piece of you missing ... and it’s difficult to live without them.”

The Marines and sailors of VMM-365 Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron landed on New River from a five-month deployment to Moron, Spain on Thursday evening to a crowd of cheering loved ones. The unit flew more than 16 hours from Europe in MV-22 Ospreys. VMM-365 was the air asset of the Special Marine Air Ground Task Force crisis response team stationed in Spain to intervene with possible crises in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Their deployment was spent training with foreign military and preparing in case they were called to a crisis or natural disaster.

“My dad has been deployed before, but this is my first experience in a relationship with someone in the military,” said Smith, who said growing up she thought she’d date a service member. “Seeing my dad leave, he was my hero and I almost got used to him leaving because he did it so much. This was very different because there is a different love for your boyfriend than you have for your dad.”

Before her boyfriend deployed, the two spent every day after work together.

Now, she is ready to begin their next chapter.

Smith’s mother, sister and aunt came to support the couple.

“The family was there with the two of them through this deployment and we know how important it is to have people waiting on you when you come home,” said Smith’s mother, Amy Smith. “Everybody needs a crowd cheering them on when they come home.”

Seeing Shelby and her boyfriend adjust to life before and during deployment allowed her to share her experiences, which she hoped helped them get through the deployment a little bit easier.

“Being in a relationship with someone in the military wasn’t something she understood before this,” she said. “It took her five difficult months, but she finally got to see a mom’s side of things.”

For Smith’s boyfriend, Nathan Donahue, it felt like he just left yesterday, he said.

“Just knowing that you have people waiting for you back home — especially your beautiful girlfriend — is awesome,” said Donahue, 22, of Hornell, N.Y. “I thought (the deployment) would feel longer and go by slower than it did, but I’m glad it didn’t.”

Leaving is stressful because you don’t know when or if you’re coming home, but coming home is exciting, Donahue said.

“None of it felt real until I landed on the flight line,” said Donahue, an Osprey crew chief. “Sitting on that bird, feeling the vibrations and just waiting to finally be home was horrible, but now, I’m here and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”